Asia Pacific represents a major portion of global real estate, with about 40 percent of the world’s building stock. According to the China Statistics Yearbook (2000-2009), the floor area of new buildings in China has reached more than 1.8 billion square meters every year since 2000 and up to 2.5 billion square meters after 2008. Since this increase in building construction has a direct effect on national energy consumption, most of the governments in the Asia Pacific region have taken energy management into serious consideration, according to Navigant Research’s report: “Energy Efficient Buildings: Asia Pacific.”

These governments are making progress in driving the energy efficiency market through the following actions:

Implementation of building energy codes

Adoption of energy efficient technologies and techniques

Use of efficient equipment, appliances, materials, and products

Implementation of operational and management practices and other relevant approaches during the planning, design, new construction, retrofit, and operational phases of the building’s lifecycle.

Navigant says three categories of products and services will address energy efficiency in buildings in Asia Pacific:

Energy Efficient HVAC Systems

Energy Efficient Lighting

Commercial Building Automation Systems

Numerous HVAC manufacturers serve the Asia Pacific markets. However, current conditions tend to favor conventional HVAC systems and non-pre-engineered (or packaged) units, over more specialized or more advanced systems, in order to meet demands across multiple markets, says Navigant.

In Asia Pacific, as in other regions, light-emitting diode (LED) products have come to be regarded as energy efficient, advanced, and long-lasting alternatives for commercial buildings. Navigant Research expects that the commercial buildings sector in the region will experience a huge increase in the adoption of these products in the coming years. Recently, the Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) commissioned Navigant Research to prepare “The Advanced Energy Now 2014 Market Report, which found the single largest driver globally for the adoption of LED lighting may be China’s 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015).